Living Sous Vide Loca - Perfectly Poached Eggs

Food. Obsession. Pretty much covers how I feel about sous vide cooking, which I've been doing for a couple of months now. Got an early Christmas present just before Thanksgiving and I haven't been the same since.

Sous vide has been around for quite a while and I've been longing for a sous vide device for years after seeing it done on the original Iron Chef. Sous vide is a French technique of cooking using vacuum sealed bags of ingredients in a temperature controlled water bath. Pure precision without all the fuss.

It controls the speed, texture and moisture of your ingredients. It's a rather low maintenance, slow cooking process that makes a crock pot look outdated and clumsy, although don't get me wrong, I love crock pot cooking.

This however, takes slow cooking to a whole other level... upscale, classy, perfection.

Now, we all know you do not need any fancy device to poach or scramble eggs. But if you want perfection, replicable perfection, every single time, while you do laundry, set the table, putz in the garden or finish watching your favorite marathon tv adventures, this is almost certainly a cooking technique you will appreciate.

I have an Anova digital sous vide device with a cool little app for android that connects my sous vide device to my phone via Wi-Fi. It also has a great user contributed recipe database where I can search (or upload) recipes and select them to set the sous vide temperature and timer for my device remotely. Geeky, I know.  I just love it; without any apology.  A perfect present for a gastro-geek like myself.

It is precise; so forgiving. It is divine. It is so low maintenance and beautiful, you will want to run it in your kitchen 24/7, just like a chef, so it's always ready when you are.

But, I don't do that, although it is almost a permanent fixture now in my kitchen.

Today, I had a craving for eggs. I get gorgeous free range eggs from the organic farm next door and what better way to do them justice? Plain and luscious and beautiful. I will likely serve mine with a tuna nicoise salad or maybe with a hollandaise.  The hollandaise I will make first because it cooks at a lower temperature than the eggs and the eggs will cook in 15 minutes giving me plenty of time to emulsify the sauce before serving with my eggs.

Sous Vide Hollandaise (149F/69C  45 minutes- 1hr):

• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons/114 g) butter
• 3 egg yolks (large), well-beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
• 1 pinch (1 ml) dry mustard

I put everything in a mason jar, sealed it with a cap and put it in the water bath with everything else.  Once it's done, I will use my immersion blender to emulsify it into a beautiful sauce.

Wish... I.... Would... Have...Tightened...The...Lid.... lol! Next time, I will put it in a baggie and then transfer it to a bowl to emulsify. So needless to say my recipe didn't quite work this time, but there's always next time.

Today I am doing both poached eggs and scrambled at 167 degrees F, for 15 minutes.  The eggs are poached right in their shells.  My poached eggs will come out of the water bath and into a cup of ice water until cool to touch. Crack the shells and the poachies will come right out in a perfect little ball. 

The scrambled eggs are done in a ziplock bag with the air removed. That's it, no real skill to it just be sure to remove the air out of the bag when you seal it.  Some massage the bag every so often but I find that unnecessary. I push it around the water bath with a big wooden spoon and that works just fine. I also add a little heavy cream and a little milk to the beaten eggs, but that is entirely optional. A little salt and pepper and then just drop the sealed bag in the water bath and step away. 

If after 15 minutes, the scrambled eggs are still a little moist for you liking, just keep cooking in the water bath until you are pleased with the texture. Remember, it is really difficult to overcook or dry out your food when using sous vide, which makes it perfect if you happen to lose track of time on the scrambled eggs. And worse case with the poached eggs, you will simply get hard boiled eggs. But do try to remove the poached eggs at or before the 15 minute mark until you get the hang of what you like in a poached egg texture.

I have been saving my egg shells for the tomato garden as this adds calcium back to the soil (along with banana peels) which helps prevent blossom end rot in the rainy season. You may not care about that, but hey, if you check out RoofGrown, my gardening blog, then you'll know that it all matters to me! 

I am serving my poached eggs today over some gorgeous locally grown (as in 5 minutes from my house) beefsteak tomatoes that I will slice thickly in lieu of english muffins. Which I have on hand, but these tomatoes are the bomb, so I am craving those instead. Topped of course, with the hollandaise, it would have been even better. 

My breakfast buddy wanted a more traditional poached experience so I made his with a little homemade garlic hummus, fresh Florida avocado, arugula from the garden and one of our favorite condiments, garlic aioli. Since I messed up the hollandaise... lol! but oh jeez this version was so delicious, too! I will post a recipe for that next because it is truly delicious and Tsunami's mother absolutely adores it so next time we make it, we will make extra for her.

Alas, even without the hollandaise the eggs were so good that I ate them without anything but salt and pepper. The poached eggs, once out of their shells, were the perfect soft boiled poached egg. A couple of minutes shy of 15 and it would have been runny enough while still having a set white. I'll continue to update this post once I find my sous vide zen as I could write an entire post just on temps and timing.

The scrambled eggs, well, they had a fluffy custard-like texture that was so delicious. You can never get this out of a pan and with a little of your favorite cheese or fillings, it would make your regular omelette cry out in a jealous rage. Serious competition for pan scrambled eggs or an omelette. Just can't beat it. And if you happen to be entertaining for breakfast or just a big hungry family, this is the perfect way to make a large batch of scrambled eggs without letting them get too dry. Just in case you have sleepy monsters that wake at all hours of the morning or, as is sometimes the case in my house... well into the afternoon.

Tuna Nicoise, you'll just have to wait for another day... I guess all I can say about that is that if you want to serve your poachies a certain way, you should get everything else prepared ahead so they go right onto your dish once they're ready. Otherwise, they are just too good not to pop into your mouth and gobble up as they are. And I actually had my beautiful tomatoes all on the ready so I ended up serving those with the scrambled eggs instead. Divine.

***Update - Made the Hollandaise sauce today (Feb 3, 2016) and not only did the Hollandaise sauce turn out perfectly, but the poached eggs I did at the same time and they too were perfect. That means you don't need a higher temp/short cooking time when you do them together. That gives you perfect time to remove the eggs when the timer goes off, put them in an ice water bath while you emulsify the sauce so they can be served together warm. It was such a gorgeous sauce without any fuss! Talk about a great go to for company! Really doesn't get more luxurious or delicious with so little effort. I also added a dash of garlic powder, which turned out lovely but you could also do a dash of garlic oil. :)

Poached Garlic, Garlic Oil and Garlic Aioli

Wow is this ever so good... First of all, it's not just one thing or another. It's actually three awesome condiments in one shot.

1. Poached garlic
2. Garlic Oil
3. Garlic Aioli

We use the poached garlic in breads and pizza. We use the garlic oil on homemade French and Italian bread, whipped into homemade mayo and drizzled onto just about anything from quesadillas to soup to sandwiches. It has become such a staple that there is a near panic when the bottle runs low.

But the combination of the two, with a few other ingredients, makes a concoction altogether sublime: garlic aioli.

I've made this before with my ex husband and we enjoyed it very much. But I was recently inspired to make it again after seeing it used as a special ingredient to a monster hamburger on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. 

Our phenomenal burger was made with homemade bacon, homegrown onions, homemade dill pickle chips, homemade mayo, my favorite locally-grown beefsteak tomatoes and some of the best Stilton cheese you can get. Oh and of course, homemade hamburger buns. The super star condiment, though, as if there weren't many, was the garlic aioli. 

Poaching the Garlic (sous vide method = 131F/55C for 3 hours):

About a pound of peeled fresh garlic

A high quality extra virgin olive oil

I buy a 4 lb bag of fresh peeled garlic at Costco for about $4, I believe. It is a steal of a deal for this particular use.  I then freeze the rest in the bag as it comes in a resealable plastic bag that stores easily in the freezer.

**Garlic freezes well and I will usually keep this peeled garlic frozen for recipes that call for garlic but where garlic will be cooked and not necessarily used as fresh (uncooked) garlic. If you will be cooking it in soups or other recipe, frozen is just fine and it does not change the flavor in a negative way. In fact, frozen garlic seems to grate as well and is also easy to slice and chop.

Now, you can easily poach these in a skillet, pot or my new favorite method: in a jar using sous vide.

Whichever method you decide to use to poach the garlic, just be sure you don't get the oil too hot. It shouldn't boil, just gently simmer until the garlic starts to turn a light golden color similar to roasted garlic. Be careful not to let it burn as it will go fast once the coloring starts. This is easy to avoid if you happen to have a sous vide device, but if not just go slow and steady and you will be well rewarded.

If you do have a sous vide device, set your temp for 131 degrees F for 3 hours. When done transfer to a jar for storage or make the aioli and store the rest of the oil in a hot sauce bottle.

Garlic Aioli:

- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tsp of paprika
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- Batch of poached garlic
- Garlic oil from poaching the garlic

In a food processor, add all of the ingredients except the garlic oil. Turn the processor on low or pulse and slowly drizzle in the olive oil.  You only need to add enough garlic oil until you get the desired consistency of aioli. Think of it like mayo... if you like a thicker mayo, add a little more oil but don't overdo it. Too much oil, added too quickly, could "break" your aioli and that usually happens once the mixture has reached it's maxed oil capacity and then gone over it's threshold. So go slow and stop and test it to see how you like it as it gets thicker.

If you want to hold off on the seasonings until you get the emulsification done, that's ok, too. Then you can season it to your taste. My measurements are just suggestions as I don't exactly measure my seasonings either. It's just my best guess-timate to help give you an idea of where to start.

I transfer the aioli to a jar and it will keep for several weeks. We spread the aioli on our burgers, on our sandwiches, use it as a dip with celery sticks as a snack, you name it. 

Buttermilk Fried Oysters

Fried oysters aren't something one eats everyday, but down South, we seem to find them on the menu more often than not. I love fresh shucked oysters, too and my first husband and I used to eat these as often as we could, wherever we could find them. I think living on the East Coast, probably any coast for that matter, means you may get them fresher more often.

One of my closest friends lives in Seattle and one of my favorite memories is of visiting her one year and taking a drive in the Washington mountains. Tucked away off the road was a tiny little restaurant carved out of the cliffside that had the most amazing porch style dining area with spectacular views of the oyster fields, far down near the water below at the base of the mountain. 

When you have fresh oysters like that, it's hard to imagine anything more sublime. Except maybe oysters on the beaches of of a sleepy fishing village in France... Or maybe on a visit up the East Coast to see my cousins in Virginia Beach where we can harvest them ourselves.

Oysters to me are treasures of the sea so to fry them, isn't necessarily my favorite way to have them. After all, nothing beats a fresh shucked oyster naked in its shell. Or simply dressed with champagne or red wine vinegar and shallots. Or heck, one of my favorites, with Tabasco and horseradish. Or with a little sour cream, caviar and green onion.  Jeez, I really do love 'em no matter how I have them prepared.

But Southern fried everything is prevalent where I live so instead of typical bar-fare of mozzarella sticks or fried mushrooms like you might see up North, we tend to see a lot of fried seafood. And don't forget the pickles. We love fried pickles.  Fried oysters, fried clams, fried conch fritters, Key West shrimp, gator, catfish, okra, softshell crab... it's hard to say no even if fried isn't exactly your thing. And yet, it's so my thing when it's done well.

It's beer food. Perfectly delicious, fresh, local snackalicious beer-food. And one of the first times I had fried oysters was after a long day at the beach at an extremely popular joint in Jupiter called the Food Shack. Bad to the bone, this little place that is practically standing room only with a line of people waiting for it to open it's doors. Worth the wait as everything on the menu is worth having and it makes making a selection awfully hard when the food is this fresh, this local and quite tropically inspired.

An all time favorite, which we have every time we go, is the panko-fried oysters on a bed of greens with homemade cilantro ranch dressing, red onions, fresh seasonal fruit. May not sound like it goes together, but trust me, it is divine.

So to replicate this awesome little snack, I picked up some fresh Willowpoint oysters that you can get fresh at Costco on the weekends. Already shucked in sealed canisters on ice, it's a steal of a deal. About a dozen in their own liquid for about $8. I will usually pick up 2 or 3 because we love oyster shooters, oyster stew and of course, now, fried oysters on a kickass salad.

Here's what you need:

Fresh oysters, shucked

Buttermilk

Flour

Rustic Tuscan seasoning from Costco

Paprika

Crushed red pepper, optional if you like a little kick

Peanut oil for frying

Prep:

1. Prep your oysters a day or two ahead. If you buy canned fresh oysters at Costco like I do, drain the oyster liquid and reserve it for something else, like oyster stew. The liquid freezes quite well and does come in handy in my household as we do make oyster stew quite often. 
2. Refill your oyster canister, with the oysters still in of course, with buttermilk. Cover and keep refrigerated until you are ready to fry. Not less than an hour, no more than 2 days. (I make my own buttermilk as you may already know and always have it on hand. I'm sure I have a post about this somewhere if you want to make your own buttermilk, too.)

Flour Dredge and Fry:

1. Once you are ready to fry, preheat your fryer with peanut oil to about 340 degrees. You can pan fry or use a deep fryer, whichever you have available.
2. Drain your oysters from the buttermilk and reserve this liquid for stew, if you like. You can put them on paper towels and lightly salt and pepper the oysters before dredging in flour.
3. In a small dish or on a plate, add flour and seasonings. I didn't give measurements as it really depends on how many oysters you will be frying so use your best judgement when seasoning your flour. About a teaspoon of each seasoning to a cup of flour is a good rough estimate.
4. Gently dredge your oysters in the seasoned flour and fry for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

We eat these on their own or on greens as a salad. I make a delicious buttermilk ranch dressing with Hidden Valley seasonings, homemade buttermilk, homemade mayo and minced garlic. You can't go wrong with that either to dip them in or as a dressing.

The texture of the oysters stays creamy dreamy while the buttermilk adds great flavor and tang combined with the crunch of the breading. Optionally, you can add panko crumbs to the seasoned flour for a little extra crunch, which we love to do when we have panko in the house.

**Alternatively you can serve these on their own, just as they are. Sometimes, we have leftover oysters that we like to fry up the same way and serve with homemade marinara. Super yummy and they never last terribly long!